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A Bootcamp in Ghardaia to nurture the next generation of Algerian Business Leaders.

So, we finally landed in Algeria, in Ghardaïa’s Moufdi Zakaria Airport, after months of preparation. Ghardaïa is the capital of the M’zab oasis region in north-central Algeria and is located in the northern Sahara desert. The Algerian Sahara is known to be a place of breath-taking beauty. It’s also a place where people are filled with a spirit of resilience and determination. Ghardaïa was indeed, the perfect location for our recent boot camp that I was fortunate enough to co-deliver with Jessica Northey in partnership with Catalyst Development.

Focusing on the global pandemic, our team have recently published an article about the Algerian diaspora’s impressive outpouring of collective solidarity in the UK, asking what motivates such forms of activism. The article looks at concepts of diaspora philanthropy, youth activism and citizenship. We wanted to understand, firstly, how diasporas might be enabled in supporting their communities and then the wider impacts of their crisis responses on processes of social change.

The problem of pollution, and plastics pollution in particular, remains a major challenge facing the whole world and Algeria is no exception. Young people and all populations across Algeria and even international observers have expressed their concerns and called out an urgent need for recycling, reduction of plastic use, and a successful waste management strategy.

Our recent interviews with youth, social entrepreneurs, climate activists and environmental associations across Algeria, have underlined how important this issue is for young people. They are on the front line, trying to find solutions, to tackle the root causes as well the symptoms of the problem.

During a three-day hybrid online and face-to-face conference organised by Jijel University, scholars from around Algeria and the UK came together to discuss the challenges and opportunities of online learning since the pandemic.

Introduced by the Rector of Jijel University, Noureddine Ben Ali Charif and Professor Said Chawki Chakour, Dean of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences and organised by Dr Hanane Bechta of the Faculty, the conference raised important questions around access to education in times of crisis, balancing technological solutions with care and welfare for students, and how to effectively plan for the future.